Callaway left Georgia in January 2007 to take the UAB head coaching position. He had not been widely linked to any other head coaching jobs, and was considered a sleeper choice by UAB. UAB was rumored to have initially offered the job to Pat Sullivan (then UAB offensive coordinator) and later to Jimbo Fisher, leading many to speculate that the UA Board of Trustees vetoed the contract offers preventing UAB from hiring more sought after coaches and instead appointing Callaway as the new head coach as a ploy to keep the program in a lower status than Alabama's own.